Rescued
by adelaidybug
Summary: Johanna has endured 6 weeks of torture in the Capital. Will she ever be the same?
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own The Hunger Games. The characters are the property of Suzanne Collins. No money has exchanged hands.**

* * *

As they came upon the cells where the tributes were kept, they split up. One soldier stood guard, two went for Peeta, one for Annie, and Gale went for Johanna Mason. He wasn't sure what to expect. From what he had seen of her in the Games, she seemed like a witch of a woman. He knew that she had to have been hurt by Snow and the peacekeepers, but he wasn't expecting what he found in the cell. Her bruised, emaciated form was strapped onto a table. She was wearing a white jumpsuit made of some sort of synthetic material. Her head was bald and her face was bruised and covered in weeping scabs. She seemed to be unconscious, and Gale felt her pulse, deciding it was stable enough that he felt comfortable moving her. Carefully, he pulled at the wide velcro strap around one of her wrists, and noticed that it was covered in dried blood. When he removed the strap, he saw the raw, infected skin underneath. He moved to the other side of her, and took off the other restraint, then moved to her ankles. After she was free, Gale lifted her frail, bony body and carrying her out of the cell.

Suddenly, he heard gunfire, and he ducked, shielding Johanna. Another soldier from 13 was holding a fragile red-headed woman and strapping himself into a hoist that would lift up to the helicopter.

"You're the last one down here, Hawthorne. The peacekeepers are on their way. Try and hold them off until we can hoist you up."

"Got it."

He watched as the hoist pulled the soldier and redhead to safety. Pressing himself against the wall, he cradled the woman in his arms carefully, whispering a prayer to no one that they wouldn't be spotted. He saw the hoist being lowered again at a snail's pace. Finally, it reached their level, and as he rapidly left the wall and secured the hoist, he felt a bullet make contact with his shoulder. Trying not to think about it, he tugged the rope twice, and as it lifted him, another bullet barely missed his head.

They finally made it onto the plane, and Gale noticed that both of the other tributes were unconscious. He saw Johanna shivering, and covered her freezing hands with his larger, warm ones.

"Hawthorne, you're bleeding." Boggs said, shoving a gauze pad toward him. Gale took it and held it to his left shoulder, wincing at the pressure. The bullet had grazed it, likely breaking some of the bone in its path.

It was a quiet ride back to 13. They were all waiting to be blasted into oblivion, but by some miracle, they made it back safely. A large med crew was waiting for them. They quickly transferred Annie, Johanna and Peeta onto gurneys and made their way toward the medical ward.

* * *

Johanna awoke slowly, wondering what new horror she would endure. Someone was putting tubes in her nose, and then some sort of gas was pumped into her nostrils. She tried not to breath. What could they be giving her? Then she noticed she wasn't strapped to the table like she normally was. Rapidly, she opened her eyes and pushed herself off the table, staggering toward the nearest exit. An IV pole was dragged behind her for a few feet before she ripped the needle out of her arm. Her muscles screamed at her. She hadn't walked across a room in several weeks; she had grown too weak, and the peacekeepers had started putting her in a wheelchair if she needed to be moved.

"Johanna, stop."

She didn't recognize the voice, and when she turned, she saw a woman in a very strange looking outfit. She had on a turtleneck shirt and a gown that looked like something she had seen one time in a medical clinic.

"You're in District 13. You're not in the capitol anymore. You're safe now."

She had to be lying. This was just another capitol trick. Johanna pushed through the door, into a hallway. It was then that she saw Gale Hawthorne on a table getting his shoulder sutured by a medic. It didn't make sense. She looked down, and noticed that she wasn't in the jumpsuit the capitol had stuck her in. She was wearing a yellow, papery gown. Looking around, she tried to decide if this was all real. Was she on tracker jacker venom again, or had she really been rescued? At that moment, her legs decided it was a great moment to stop supporting her. She tried to collapse with dignity, but ended up with one leg under herself, one stretched out in front, her elbows shakily holding her up from behind. The damned doctor showed up with a wheelchair within a moment and pulled Johanna up by the armpits, setting her gently in the chair. Johanna glared murderously at the doctor, but her tongue was too sticky to get any words out.

"Johanna, you're safe, but you're dehydrated and we need to rehydrate you with an IV," she said, wheeling the woman back toward the room she had been in.

She continued to sneer at the doctor, but didn't fight as she was lifted back into bed.

"It's just saline, see?" She held out the clear bag of fluids, and Johanna glanced down at the label, which read "Normal Saline."

Huffing, she held out her arm and the doctor put a tourniquet on Johanna's arm, rubbed the skin with an alcohol wipe, then said "little pinch" as she inserted the needle. Hooking it up to a bag of fluid, she stood back.

"Are you in pain?"

She gave a single nod.

"Where?"

She didn't answer.

The doctor brought out some ointment and q-tips.

"How about I treat some of your wounds?"

Johanna still didn't respond. The doctor dabbed a wound on her arm, and the woman winced, but didn't resist the treatment. The doctor noticed burn marks all over Johanna's body.

"What happened here?" She asked, pointing at one of the burn marks.

The woman didn't answer.

"I'm going to give you some morphling, Johanna. That might make you a little bit sleepy, okay?"

After the doctor connected the small bag to the IV, there was a rushing feeling and her pain seemed to melt away. Slowly, Johanna sat back, eyes closing, muscles relaxing.

* * *

She woke again, stifling a whimper. The oxygen tubes were back in her nose, and she ripped them out, tossing them angrily to the side.

"Hi."

It was Finnick. Johanna tried to sit up in bed, but her head throbbed and everything seemed to spin. She sat back and swallowed, trying to avoid throwing up.

"You look like hell," he said, smiling.

"You've gotten fat," she managed hoarsely. They were the first words that she had said in probably three weeks.

He laughed good naturedly. "Fat, but still handsome as all get out."

"In your dreams." She tried to smirk, but she couldn't.

How are you feeling?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, reluctantly opening them a few moments later.

"That bad?"

She pressed her lips together, clutched at the blankets that were over her legs, vaguely realizing that she hadn't slept with blankets on since she was in the training center before the Quarter Quell. Those ones had been luxurious, made of deliciously soft material that she felt she had no right to touch. These ones were scratchy, but felt much more like something she would have had at home. But she couldn't think about home. She didn't have one. She smirked, but there wasn't even a spark in her eyes like there used to be.

"I wish I had died in that arena."

"I know."

"I had my knife. It would have been so easy."

"I know."

"No one would have even cared."

"Yes we would have."

"No Finnick. You were worried about Annie while we were in there. You probably didn't give me much thought."

Finnick started to defend himself, but Johanna cut him off.

"No. It's okay. I'm not mad. That's just the way things are. There's not anyone left that I love." She laid her head back, closing her eyes and almost wishing she had the oxygen tubes in her nose. It did feel hard to breathe.

"I'm going to go. Try and get your beauty rest. You could really use it."

She flicked him off, and he gave her a winning grin as he exited. Without the distraction of another human, her pain became more evident, and she felt overwhelmed and shaky. She sat motionless, listening to her own uneven breath.

Eventually, the doctor from before came in.

"Hi Johanna. How are you?"

She didn't answer. A nurse set up a bag on her IV pole, switching the drip over to the small bag. The pain nagging at her ribs calmed, and she began to feel relaxed and lethargic. Meanwhile, the doctor took her blood pressure and wrote something on a clipboard.

"Do you need anything?"

She gave a short huff in reply, and the doctor nodded and left. Though she wanted to stay awake just to spite everyone, Johanna's exhaustion soon took over, and she fell asleep.

* * *

Her 15 hours of sleep consisted of countless nightmares. She finally awoke from one of them, her breath labored, burning through her chest.. A girl was sitting next to her in the bed, staring at her. The oxygen tubes were back, and she pulled them off, staring back at the girl as she did so.

"You're Prim, aren't you?" Her voice was still scratchy and painful.

"Yeah."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm training to be a doctor and… well, you were screaming in your sleep."

"Oh."

Prim handed her the nasal cannula deliberately.

"I don't want that."

"Your oxygen saturation is low. You need it." Prim reached to the bedside table and grabbed a mug filled with steaming liquid, handing it to Johanna, who had poutingly put on the oxygen tube and then snuggled further under her covers, grasping the mug.

"Uh, thanks."

"No problem. So what were you dreaming about?"

"Nothing."

"You were screaming."

She took a sip of what was in the cup. It was slightly bitter, but felt soothing on her throat.

"Do you feel safe here, Johanna?"

Johanna laughed bitterly. "No."

"Is there anything I can do that would make you feel safer?"

"Yeah, kill Snow and all the damn peacekeepers."

"There's people working on it."

Pain was starting to burn through her body as the morphling wore off, and she shifted in the bed, wincing.

"Are you okay?"

"I need more drugs."

Prim left for a moment and came back with a small bag that she hung to Johanna's IV pole. She disconnected the tube from the large bag of clear liquids and attached it to the other bag.

"So… what's wrong with me?" Johanna asked, looking everywhere but at the teenager.

"You have severe bruising and some internal abdominal bleeding, a few nasty infections in some of your sores and burns, muscle weakness, and you're malnourished."

"Fantastic."

"The doctor is going to come see you in about half an hour."

"She's an idiot."

Prim gave a small smile. "I know."

"Has Katniss seen Peeta yet?"

Prim grew serious and nodded.

"He's messed up. We all are, but especially him. His cell was next to mine. I could hear him…. Just keep him away from Katniss."

"You know she'll fight to see him."

Johanna nodded, wincing at the movement. She was struggling to stay awake with the morphling entering her bloodstream.

"Do you want me to leave so you can get some rest?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

Johanna nodded slightly, and shut her eyes as Prim left the room, falling to sleep almost immediately.

* * *

**This is my first fanfic for anything besides Warehouse 13, so let me know how I did! More is coming soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning when Johanna breached consciousness, she was alone. Was it all a dream? Was she still in the hellish Capitol conditions? Her breathing increased as she stared at the IV bag, getting up and staring at the label, reading the words over and over. _Normal Saline, Morphling Sulfate. Normal Saline, Morphling Sulfate. Normal Saline, Morphling Sulfate._

The words didn't reassure her that this was reality. She rubbed wrists, which were still raw from fighting-and seizing helplessly-against her restraints in her Capitol torture cell.

"You okay?"

Johanna jumped.

Gale Hawthorne was standing in the doorway.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

She glared at him, but had to sit down because her whole body was trembling.

"I'm really sorry."

"It's fine."

"You're shaking. Do you want me to leave?"

"Yes- No. I don't know." She hadn't had a choice in anything for a very long time.

"I'm Gale Hawthorne."

"Yeah, I know."

"Katniss brought me up?"

"Oh yes, during one of our afternoon tea parties," she said, her voice dripping with condescension.

"Right. I guess you didn't spend much time socializing."

"You were on Capitol TV. Why are you even here?"

"Oh. Um, I'm one of the soldiers who was on the rescue mission. I guess I just wanted to check on you."

"Thanks, I suppose."

"You're welcome, I guess. How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"You're still shaking."

"I know. Shut up. You should be apologizing for nearly giving me a heart attack, not mocking me."

"You're right. Sorry."

"So you're not Katniss's cousin, are you?" She asked, changing the subject abruptly.

"No. I'm an old friend."

"Huh."

Gale wasn't sure how to carry on a conversation with Johanna. He knew she didn't have any family or friends anymore. She didn't seem to have any interests either.

"You can go now," the bald woman said, smirking at him.

"Okay. Uh, I hope you feel better soon." He walked out rather awkwardly, and Johanna pulled her legs onto the bed, laying back. She wasn't sure why she was so tired. It seemed like all she did was sleep. Seeing as there was nothing else to do, however, she closed her eyes and found herself asleep within a few minutes.

* * *

When Johanna awake the next day, screaming hoarsely, Prim was by her side again.

"It's okay. You're safe now."

Johanna forced herself to slow her breathing.

"How do you feel about breakfast?"

Joanna tried to say "mhm," but her voice got caught in her throat she ended up with a grunt followed by coughing.

"I'll go get it."

Prim left, and moments later she returned with a tray and set it on the bed table.

"It's nothing fancy, but hopefully you'll like it."

Johanna stared at the large bowl of oatmeal with a bit of sugar on top. It was something she had had every day before her first hunger games. It was enough to get her through a strenuous morning of chopping lumber at the yard. When she had come back from the games, she had stopped eating breakfast. And in the Capitol, she was kept alive by a bare minimum of calories dumped into a feeding tube in her abdomen every few days. They tried to bribe her to tell her secrets using food, but she didn't want to do anything that would prolong her life.

She dug into the bowl, devouring it quickly. When she was finished, she looked up at Prim.

"Can I…" She stopped herself.

"What were you going to say?"

"Uh, can I have more?"

"Yes, of course." Prim came back with more oatmeal, and after Johanna ate it, she felt full for the first time in almost two months.

"So this is Thirteen, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Why aren't there any windows?"

"We're underground."

"Can I go outside?"

"I don't know. Most of us aren't allowed up on the surface. Katniss has been up there, though, so maybe you can go up too."

Johanna was suddenly feeling very trapped.

"Can we go for a walk or something?"

"Are you sure you're up for that?" Prim asked, looking over Johanna's thin and battered frame, practically swimming in her hospital gown.

"Yes. I just need to get out of this room for a little while."

Prim obliged, but she brought a wheelchair in case Johanna got tired. They walked down the hallway, and Johanna noticed a dark room with a window in it.

"Johanna, let's go this way," Prim said a bit too urgently.

"What's in here?"

"Uh…"

The scrawny woman entered the room and found that the window showed a sterile white room with a man restrained on a bed. It was Peeta.

The simple fact that he was restrained brought horrid flashbacks stampeding through her mind. She wobbled, then slipped onto the floor with a small _thump._

"Johanna, are you okay?"

She felt like she was going to throw up.

"Why are they keeping him like that?"

"He tried to hurt Katniss. He's really violent."

"Don't they realize that room looks just like our cells in the Capital?" She spat the words out vehemently, not sure who she was mad at.

"I don't think that they did it on purpose."

Johanna felt overwhelmed and tired and disoriented. She shoved her face into her hands and tried not to cry, but she couldn't help it. She was no longer strong, fierce Johanna Mason. She was tiny, pitiful, crying Johanna Mason.

Prim approached her slowly.

"Johanna, I'm going to help you into this wheelchair, okay?"

Prim carefully helped Johanna up and sat her down in the wheelchair, then pushed Johanna back to her room. Johanna got out of the wheelchair and sat down on the bed, pulling her knees up and resting her chin on them. She was a shivering mess of sweat, snot, and tears.

"I'm going to give you some morphling," Prim said gently. She untangled one of Johanna's arms and turned it over, flushing the peripheral cannula with a syringe of saline before attaching a tube connected to a bag of morphling. As she set it up, she looked over Johanna's many scabs and bruises.

"Your wounds could use another round of salve. Can I treat them now?"

Johanna had begun to calm down, and finally looked up at Prim, her eyes bloodshot. She didn't trust her own voice, so she just nodded and untangled her limbs, lying back on the bed and closing her eyes.

Prim got out some salve and q-tips and began tending to the scabs. She began talking softly to Johanna, the way she would talk to Katniss when she had a nightmare. She knew Johanna wasn't really listening, but she also knew that she needed her there. She talked about her training to be a doctor, and how Buttercup had somehow gotten to Thirteen's military training center and all the soldiers had taken to finding field mice for him when they were training above ground. Johanna fell asleep eventually, and Prim looked over the woman's tiny, battered body. It was clear she was in pain, and she still looked terribly sick. Prim wondered what kind of torture the woman had endured. She had seen her in the Quarter Quell, and knew that she had to have been through a lot to change her this much from her former self. Johanna whimpered in her sleep, and Prim slipped her hand into hers, squeezing it lightly.

"It's going to be okay, Johanna. I know it doesn't seem like it, but you're going to be okay."


End file.
